The Final Finale Day #7 Tsugaike

Saturday March 3rd, 2007

My snowboarding season and career in Japan has come to an end. I don't know the next time I'll strap in or strap on. It's a sad day. I said my farewells to Nagano, the mountains and the ski hill. It's been (mostly) good to me! And to top it all off, I had an unforgettable last day!

Today's group was some third+ years and a few Japanese friends. My final day on the hill was full of fun, friends, food, and a few falls...well, watch the video that's posted in the side bar, and make sure the volume is on! That exlains it all. Here are a few pics! And now, I really should start that paper! EEK!

Another beautiful sunny day! Although the temp was well above freezing!

What? How did that happen?

A random (and very friendly) bear on the hill!

Tasty kebabobs after boarding! Oh my!

An automatic highway flag waiver! I'm gonna miss these guys!

(not on the ski hill, but part of the randomness of the day)

Day # 6 Tsugaike

Sunday, February 25th, 2007

You can't teach an old dog new tricks....routines are just to hard to break! Five of us loaded into Tomo's car at 7am. Our only option given the weather...Hakuba! The cheapest and best option in Hakuba...Tsugaike! So that's where we ended up. The lines were long because it was a beautiful Sunday morning!! But by mid-afternoon the hills were quiet and there were no lift lines and it was still beautiful!! We spent the day roaming around the upper backside, exploring our favorite forest runs. We finally made it to the lake side restaurant for lunch. Earlier in the season we tried to get there, but with the weather being foggy, we couldn't ever find it. There wasn't any powder, but the snow was cut up enough that it had a soft layer on top that held the edges. The day felt good overall! It wasn't till the end of the day that I hit an icy spot, caught my edge and hit my bum pretty hard. But that's to be expected! We're holding out for 1-2 more weeks of boarding! Pray for a bit more snow and cool temps! My tulips are about to bloom! Eek!

Here are a few pics from the day!

Is this legal in other countries--a baby strapped to a skiers back?? It seems so so dangerous! And really, what's the point? If you can't find a babysitter, you shouldn't strap the kid to your back and hope for the best. If the kid wants to be outside, let him/her build a snow man or go sledding! Or pay for ski lessons!

I'll never understand the child safety laws in Japan. That goes for seat belts (the lack of), car seats (where are they?), bicycle helmets (elementary & high school kids are exempt), and skiing with a kid on your back! Oh my!

Winter Camping

Saturday morning 6 of us packed up the cars and headed for the mountains, but not to snowboard...we wanted to camp in the snow! We brought more gear than necessary, but we realized we wouldn't be hiking in, it would be a car camping trip. Our first few ideas were shot down, almost literally. We put snowshoes on to check out a road in the hopes of making it up to a trailhead and camping there. After our initial reconnaissance mission we drove our car up the road, but the snow got deeper, the road stepper and more slippery. Just as we were decided to bail and turn back, a bigger 4WD SUV came down the mountain. At first I thought it was mountain patrol and they got out and were making gestures and motions that we shouldn't be there. But in actuality it was a hunter also doing a reconnaissance mission. And he warned us that camping in these mountains might be a bad idea because rabbit and wild boar hunting opened in the morning. Eek, how would we have EVER known that??

So we headed back down the mountain and decided to drive around a little pond in the hopes of finding a place for our tuna sandwhich and soup lunch. As luck had it, we found a shelter unlocked with a platform perfect for 7 sleeping bags (chica joined us later) and a fire pit in the middle of the building! We got lunch going, set up our stuff, and before dark set in we headed back to the main road and into the onsen, 5 minutes away!! It was PERFECT!!

It was a fun-filled night. And even thought we didn't get our snow camping in, it was probably a blessing in disguise, plus it did snow in the morning.

My camera battery was dead, but I stole Shinji's pics. For more pics, please visit San Tache It's worth a visit!!

Day #5 Charmant Hiuchi Snow Resort

It was a last minute decision. We got a text from the early car and they made the decision on the road...Charmant. It's known as a "Natural Terrain" hill. There are two or three groomed runs, but if there is enough snow, it's a free for all. But that's only fun if you're really good and you can get in and out of deep powder and between trees with ease. So, most of us stayed on course!

It wasn't a great day, I have been fighting a bad cold for a few days. And on the way to Charmant my funky toe kinda went dead. So I had to heat it back up in the lodge and make sure the blood was flowing before I got my boots on! Should I be worried??

Here are a few pics...nothing too unusual!

さよなら 秋！ こにちわ 冬！

Good-bye fall! Hello winter!

Last weekened was a sunny, warm, beautiful 3-day holiday. And yesterday, Monday, it turned ugly. It started raining, the wind picked up, and it got dark and grey. There was thunder and lightning last night and today. And it's COLD!

Luckily, I got in a fall leaf "viewing" day before the official start of winter in Japan (today). Last Friday, some friends and I headed to the Tsugaike National Park in Nagano for a light hike in the mountains. Takae and I tried to do this hike in August, but we got stormed out half way up the mountain between the gondola and the ropeway. We were determined to try it again!

This time around, we were really lucky, Asuka was able to join us and we got a beautiful sunny day! It was a lovely day of walking, and admiring the view-mountain tops, leaves of every color, and the mountain wetlands that make up the national park.

And of course, we had a gourmet meal on the mountain. We all brought a little something to share and it was fabulous--onigiri (rice balls), dried fugu (blow fish), pasta salad, tamagoyaki (fried egg roll), vegetables, meatballs, chocolate, oranges, cookies, cakes, hot tea and hot milk tea! After lunch we headed back down the mountain (via the ropeway and gondola) and went to an onsen. We ended up traveling down a road that took us deep into the mountains and further into the beautiful fall colors. The onsen was a very small, very very hot bath coated in inches of rock mineral deposits! It felt fabulous, too bad it wasn't outside with a view of the leaves!

Thanks girls! It was a great day! Let's start planning our next adventure!


Seriously, now I HAVE to get back to work and finish this #%*@ paper!